- Source: Pristina International Airport
Prishtina International Airport Adem Jashari (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës Adem Jashari), also referred to as Pristina International Airport (Albanian: Aeroporti Ndërkombëtar i Prishtinës, IATA: PRN, ICAO: BKPR), is an international airport in Pristina, Kosovo. The airport is located 15 km (9.3 mi) southwest of the city of Pristina, Kosovo. The airport has flights to numerous European destinations. The airport is the only port of entry for air travelers to Kosovo. It is named in honor Adem Jashari, the founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
History
= Foundation and early years
=The airport was originally built as Slatina Air Base, containing the second-largest military underground hangar complex in Yugoslavia.
From 12 to 26 June 1999, there was a brief but tense stand-off between NATO and the Russian Kosovo Force in which Russian troops possessed the airport. A contingent of 200 Russian troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, crossed over into Kosovo and captured the airport in Pristina.
The apron and the passenger terminal were renovated and expanded in 2002 and again in 2009. In June 2006, Pristina International Airport was awarded the Best Airport 2006 Award by Airports Council International (ACI). Winning airports were selected for excellence and achievement across a range of disciplines including airport development, operations, facilities, security and safety, and customer service.
On 12 November 2008, Pristina International Airport received for the first time in its history the annual one-millionth passenger (excluding military). A special ceremony was held at the airport where the one-millionth passenger received a free return ticket to a destination of his choice served by the airport.
= Development since 2010
=In late 2010, the airport was renamed from Pristina International Airport to Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari, the founder of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought for the secession of Kosovo from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the 1990s.
Due to the ongoing dispute between Serbia and Kosovo, flights to and from Pristina International Airport are impacted by the refusal of ATC in Serbia, namely SMATSA, to allow overflights via Serbian airspace. This ultimately results in flight paths avoiding Serbian territory with flights to Pristina having to enter via Albanian or Macedonian airspace. This dispute can generally add up to 30 minutes to a flight duration and discussions to overcome this dispute have so far failed.
In April 2011 operation was handed to Limak Kosovo International Airport J.S.C. under a design-build-finance-operate-transfer (DBFOT) 20-year concession agreement with the Turkish-French consortium Limak and Aeoroports de Lyon. To take account of travel disruptions due to COVID-19, in 2024 the concession agreement was extended another 20 months.
In December 2021 the runway was extended from 2,500 m to 3,000 m and ILS upgraded from Category 2 to Category 3b, funded by the Kosovo Government. In 2013 a new 42,000 m2 terminal was inaugurated. In July 2024 the number of gates increased from 8 to 12, funded by the private operator.
Airlines and destinations
The following airlines operate regular scheduled and charter flights to and from Pristina:
Statistics
Ground transportation
= Car
=The airport is linked with the M-9 motorway, which connects with the R7 motorway.
= Taxi
=Taxis from the airport to Pristina are available.
= Bus
=The airport can be reached from the city center, via the 1A bus route, which departs from the Pristina Bus Station every two hours.
= Rail
=The Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, Liburn Aliu announced that construction of a railway from Pristina to Pristina Airport is expected to begin in 2024. The project has also received EU funding.
Accidents and incidents
On November 12, 1999, Si Fly Flight 3275 crashed while approaching the airport after a flight from Rome International Airport, killing all 24 occupants.
On January 19, 2006, a Slovak Air Force, Antonov, An-24 crashed over Hungary after departing from Pristina International Airport. (See, 2006 Slovak Air Force Antonov-24 Crash)
See also
Transport in Kosovo
Gjakova Airport in Gjakova
Dumosh-Batllava Airfield
Notes and references
= References
=External links
Media related to Pristina International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
Official website (in Albanian and English)
Civil Aviation Authority of Kosovo
Current weather for BKPR at NOAA/NWS
Accident history for PRN at Aviation Safety Network
Kata Kunci Pencarian:
- Bandar Udara Internasional Pristina
- Pristina
- Bandar Udara Istanbul
- Bandar Udara Internasional Malpensa
- Bandar Udara Internasional Schiphol
- Bandar Udara Internasional Wina
- Bandar Udara Berlin Schönefeld
- B&H Airlines
- Daftar bandara tujuan British Airways
- Bandar Udara Internasional Brussel
- Pristina International Airport
- Incident at Pristina Airport
- Pristina
- Transport in Pristina
- Kosova Airlines
- List of international airports by country
- Gjakova Airport
- Adem Jashari
- Pristina (disambiguation)
- Slatina Air Base
